Written by Gary
Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Tesla, FedEx, Airbnb, and Winnebago (SPY -0.4%). U.S. LNG exports surge.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | North and South American markets are mixed today. The IPC is up 0.43% while the Bovespa gains 0.04%. The S&P 500 is off 0.31%. |
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
| Coal Consumption Set to Jump In 2021Coal consumption is set for a rebound of 2.6 percent next year as the worlds heavy industry emerges from the pandemic crisis, the International Energy Agency said in its latest report on the fossil fuel. The forecast is, of course, based on the assumption that the global economy will begin to recover next year, which is far from certain. Chinas and Indias recovery, however, has a higher degree of certaintyboth countries are already on the mend. The IEA acknowledged this in its report, noting the rebound in coal consumption |
| Libyas Oil Production Rises FurtherLibyas crude oil production continues to increase as one of its companies has nearly doubled its output to 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) compared to production levels before the blockade of Libyan oil ports and oilfields in January. Libyas Sirte Oil and Gas Production and Processing Company has nearly doubled its crude oil production to over 100,000 bpd, compared to the average 55,000-bpd production rate before the blockade, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said in a statement. Sirte Oil and Gas carried out a program to boost |
| 2020: A Historic Year In ReviewFor most people, the idea of looking back on the last year is probably not that appealing. The phrase because, you know, 2020 has become a punchline, and for good reason. This year will forever be remembered as the year that Covid-19 arrived, killing hundreds of thousands of Americans and over 1.5 million people worldwide. With that tragedy came the attempts to limit the carnage, at least for a while, businesses closed, and people stayed at home, resulting in the largest single-quarter drop in GDP ever, massive job losses |
| Oil Markets Ignore Bearish RisksU.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures are edging higher on Friday as investors showed no signs of lightening up on the long side ahead of the weekend and next weeks holiday-shortened week. The market is currently trading at its highest level since March 3 as traders shrugged off negative future demand news throughout the week and instead focused on the optimism created by the rollout of the coronavirus vaccines and hopes for a new fiscal stimulus deal. A weaker U.S. Dollar, which fell to more than a 2-1/2 year low also drove up |
| U.S. LNG Exports Surge1. Chinas oil import surge ended- Chinas imports of crude oil are set to jump 10% this year, but the import surge occurred during the downturn earlier this year when crude prices collapsed. In fact, Chinas exports of refined products are on the rise. – Chinas oil demand dipped slightly by 30,000 bpd in October, but the IEA expects Chinas demand to be up 480,000 bpd in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, dramatically better than OECD countries. – Despite Covid-19 vaccine optimism, a huge buildup of global oil |
| The Oil Market Is Still In TroubleCOVID Market Update Despite the vaccine optimism prevalent in the market that has successfully boosted oil prices to February levels, the oil market is still in trouble. OPEC has once again lowered its demand forecast for this year and next while simultaneously agreeing to boost production, and U.S. refiners are closing refineries, extending maintenance season, and upgrading less efficient units as demand for finished products continues to sag. U.S. inventories of crude and gasoline are still high, even though U.S. crude production is still more |
| Vice President Mike Pence gets Covid vaccine, Fauci says ‘I’m ready to go’Pence, his wife, Karen, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams got inoculated on live national television. |
| Dick’s Sporting Goods teams with Instacart for same-day delivery at 150 stores amid last-minute holiday crunchDick’s Sporting Goods is teaming with Instacart to offer same-day delivery from more than 150 stores. |
| CVS Health, Walgreens start to provide Covid vaccines at thousands of hard-hit nursing homesNursing home and assisted living facility residents are among the first to get the shots because they have been particularly hard-hit by the coronavirus. |
| Olive Garden parent’s revenue falls 19% as new dining restrictions hit same-store salesDarden Restaurants topped analysts’ expectations for its quarterly earnings but fell short of estimates for its revenue. |
| Palo Alto Networks CEO: All companies must ensure they weren’t hit in suspected Russian cyberattackPalo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora also told CNBC he doesn’t think it’s the last major attack. |
| New NBA owner Ryan Smith turned down several chances to buy teams to wait for the JazzThe NBA has approved Ryan Smith’s $1.6 billion purchase of the Jazz from the Miller family. |
| Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Tesla, FedEx, Airbnb, Winnebago & moreCheck out the companies making headlines in midday trading. |
| Watch live: New York Gov. Cuomo briefs the press on Covid pandemic as state distributes vaccinesNew York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is scheduled to hold a press briefing Friday on the coronavirus pandemic. |
| Pelosi and McConnell will receive Covid vaccine soon as shots are reserved for senior U.S. officialsThe vaccine likely won’t be available to the general public for months as Pfizer ramps up production of the vaccine. |
| COVAX global Covid vaccine program secures nearly 2 billion doses as UNICEF prepares for distributionCOVAX, the global alliance aiming to deliver Covid-19 vaccines to the world’s poorest countries, said it now has supply agreements for nearly 2 billion doses. |
| Dr. Scott Gottlieb expects Covid vaccine shortages to last even if Moderna receives clearance“I think they could have pushed out more vaccine through the hospitals this month than what they’re doing,” Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Friday. |
| GE’s giant turbines will power final phase of the ‘world’s biggest offshore wind farm’The Dogger Bank Wind Farm will have a total capacity of 3.6 gigawatts when completed. |
| FDA says it hasn’t yet approved Moderna Covid vaccine despite Trump tweet saying otherwisePresident Trump tweeted Friday that the FDA has “approved” Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine and it would be distributed immediately. |
| Stimulus Stalls On GOP Push To Limit Fed Powers As $1,200 Checks Blocked By JohnsonStimulus Stalls On GOP Push To Limit Fed Powers As $1,200 Checks Blocked By Johnson Tyler Durden Fri, 12/18/2020 – 12:40 Update (1240ET): Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) says he’s blocking $1,200 direct stimulus checks to Americans, citing the national debt, according to Bloomberg’s Steven Dennis. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Josh Howley (R-MO) were pushing for the $1,200 amount.
While Sanders and other Democrats are pushing for more checks, bipartisan leaders are trying to keep the plan under $900 billion through the use of much smaller checks. Democratic leaders, however, want the direct checks to be on top of the … |
| Tesla’s Addition To The S&P Could Cause A “Deluge” Of Selling In Other Index ComponentsTesla’s Addition To The S&P Could Cause A “Deluge” Of Selling In Other Index Components Tyler Durden Fri, 12/18/2020 – 12:40 Tesla’s inclusion into the S&P index may not be all sunshine and rainbows for the other companies already in the index. Tesla’s enormous size – coming in at a valuation of $600 billion – will make it the sixth largest market cap in the index and the largest entrant by market value in history. Since it is replacing a much smaller company in “Apartment Investment and Management Co.”, the carmaker’s addition could wind up setting up serious volatility for other index components. In fact, Citadel’s head of trading, Greg Sutton, says that even though SPY funds will have to buy more than $70 billion worth of Tesla shares, they’re also going to have to “dump an equal amount of stock in existing members” of the index. These stocks may have troubling managing what Bloomberg is calling a “sudden deluge of supply”. |
| Plunge In Retail Sales Shows Vulnerable Consumer: Personal Savings Rate Is OverstatedPlunge In Retail Sales Shows Vulnerable Consumer: Personal Savings Rate Is Overstated Tyler Durden Fri, 12/18/2020 – 12:28 Authored by Joe Carson via TheCarsonReport.com, November’s retail sales plunged 1.1%, the biggest monthly decline since April. And the small gain in October retail sales was revised down, and now sales in that month show a tiny decline.
The sharp drop in consumer spending on retail goods was not supposed to happen. Analysts expected spen … |
| Goldman’s European Traders Summarize The “Unforgettable” 2020 In 10 ChartsGoldman’s European Traders Summarize The “Unforgettable” 2020 In 10 Charts Tyler Durden Fri, 12/18/2020 – 12:05 In its final report for the year, Goldman’s European Weekly Kickstart team has put together 10 charts summarizing the “unforgettable” 2020 while looking at what’s in store for 2021. Goldman starts off chronologically, writing that as we entered 2020 European stocks were a sea of calm with no major elections planned in France or Italy, and a recent, comfortable Conservative majority in the UK Parliament that broke the political deadlock made a swift Brexit, and the market improved steadily reaching a fresh all-time high of 434 for the STOXX 600 and 3,386 for the S&P 500 on February 19. Then, the coronavirus hit the global economy, and we witnessed the fastest bear market in history: it took just 22 days for the S&P 500 to lose 20% of its value, and the US and European benchmarks were both down c.35% from peak to trough. This however was followed by the fastest recovery in history as well. … |
| Christmas post delays blamed on ‘high demand’Fears remain over Christmas deliveries as online shopping balloons amid Covid restrictions. |
| Covid tests offered to John Lewis and Waitrose staffDepartment store chain John Lewis is offering free Covid tests to up to 16,000 workers a week |
| Lloyds Banking Group cancels bonuses after profit dropBankers were told in a memo on Thursday first reported by the Financial Times. |
| The quest to replicate Tesla’s success keeps EV mania aliveFor startups aiming to mimic Musk’s success and for traditional carmakers struggling to disrupt themselves, most lingering doubts about future demand for electric vehicles have dissipated. |
| What technology charged up stock broking in the year of RobinhoodsBrokers are increasingly migrating to cloud-based systems to meet the spike in trading volumes and new account openings. |
| Borosil Renewables raises Rs 200 cr via through QIPBorosil Renewables Ltd (BRL) has successfully completed fundraising of Rs 200 crore through a qualified institutions placement (issue), a company statement said. |
| Mark Hulbert: Stock investors got the big bull market they wished for ” and now they should be carefulHow much longer will this bull market last? That depends on which history you believe. |
| : 7 hard lessons for investors from the DoorDash and Airbnb IPOsBoth stocks tumbled after their first day of trading, and DoorDash has continued to fall. |
| Realtor.com: This is why nobody wants to buy President Trump’s childhood home ” but will crowdfunding help?For years, President Donald Trump’s wildly overpriced childhood home in Queens, NY, has languished on the market. Undeterred, the owners of the modest Tudor are now trying to crowdfund their way to a huge, $3 million payday by appealing to the president’s most devoted fans. |
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